Harry Potter and The Shadows of War
by Prometheus64
Summary: What if Voldemort chose the Longbottoms over the Potters. What if Neville was the BoyWhoLived? Would he still be the chosen one? What would happen to Harry? This is my second fanfic. HHR. Please Review. Prometheus. PAUSED


Disclaimer : For those of you who know, I'm sorry but I have to repeat this. For those of you who don't, I regret to inform you that these characters are not mine. This beautiful world and it's characters are the property of J.K.

A/N - Hello everybody. This is my second fan-fic. Hope you all enjoy. This explores the possibility of what could have happened if Voldemort went after the Longbottoms instead of the Potters.

Harry Potter and The Shadows of War

Chapter 1

**Of Death and Betrayal**

Sirius Black rushed from his Auror office barking out orders. He prayed to whatever god there was that Fudge was wrong. That the bloody coward was lying to get into Sirius' head. Sirius couldn't live with himself if what he was told was true.

'_Peter Pettigrew'_

The Potters had recently gone into hiding with there four year old son, Harry. Voldemort had ordered their assassination. So Sirius sent them into hiding. Dumbledore had refused to put them under a Fidelus Charm because he was to preoccupied with 'The-Boy-Who-Lived.' _Bloody git, _Sirius thought. _If he would have just done this one thing for Lily and James, I wouldn't be in this position._ But who was sent to kill them they did not know. Until now.

When Sirius got out of the anti-apparation wards of the Ministry of Magic, he concentrated on the Potters hideout hoping he wasn't to late.

When Sirius Black arrived in front of the Potter's hideout he stopped dead in his tracks. In the sky above the home was a hideous skull and snake with an ominous green glow

Sirius started a sprint towards the front door. He braced his right shoulder as he prepared to crash through the front door. His instincts told him to wait and be more cautious in his approach, but his mind was screaming to get to James and Lily.

He gave a fierce battle cry as he came upon the door. With one combined movement, he plowed through the front door, knocking off its hinges and came into a roll. When he recovered he came on one knee and recovered his wand from its holster with a flick of his wrist. He quickly scanned the front hallway of the Potter's house, looking for any signs of a disturbance. Slowly he rose up of his knee and turned around quickly, reinforcement aurors had not yet arrived. He turned back to the hallway and slowly proceeded down it. At the end of the hallway he could see the entrance to the kitchen. The light within the kitchen was still on. Sirius could hear the distinct whistle of water for tea boiling in the background.

When he entered the kitchen Sirius wanted to cry. On the floor, in front of the oven, was the body of Lily Potter. She was on her stomach, which suggested that she was hit from behind by a curse.

Sirius slowly walked to the body with his wand drawn and knelt down. His hand quickly searched for a pulse in her neck and found none.

He stayed in the knelt position and closed his eyes, trying to contain the waves of grief that were overwhelming him.

Quickly, Sirius stood and turned but stopped and fell back giving a short scream of horror, nearly tripping on Lily's body. Pinned to the wall was the body of his best friend James Potter. A knife with a hilt containing two snakes wrapped around each other stuck out of his heart.

Sirius was about to approach the body but he heard another sound. This one more innocent.

The soft cry of a boy could be heard. Sirius exited the kitchen the same way he came in and walked down the hallway.

He could hear the boy's cries easier now. They seemed to be coming from a coat closet in the hallway. Sirius approached the closet and knelt down.

"Harry?" Sirius whispered. "Is that you, it's me, Uncle Siri."

"Uncle Siri!" Before Sirius knew what happened the closet door flew open almost smacking him in the face as he was nearly tackle to the ground by a young boy.

Sirius wrapped Harry in a brief but tight hug. He extended his arms and looked into his godson's beautiful green eyes. He had bags under his eyes and it was obvious he was crying. Sirius raised his hand and brushed away the tears quickly.

"Harry we have to go. Come on." With a flick of his wrist Sirius sheathed his wand and stood. He glanced around for a brief second and then bent over again and picked up Harry with a grunt.

Sirius began to walk towards the front door but stopped suddenly as a voice called down the hall.

"Stop right there Padfoot."

Sirius stopped abruptly and put Harry down. He turned squatted down and gave Harry a hug. "Listen Harry," he whispered. "When a tell you to, I want you to run and go across the clearing. There should be men that work with me there any second now. They're going to help you. Okay?"

"Uh-huh." Harry said with a head nod.

Sirius stood up slowly and turned to face his former friend. "How could you Peter?"

"How could I what Sirius? Did you really expect me not to defy the Dark Lord?" Peter said with a sadistic smirk. He had his wand out and was pointing it directly at Sirius' heart.

"James and Lily thought of you as a brother," Sirius said softly. "How could you betray them?"

"Simple," Pettigrew paused. "Like this! _Sectumsempra!" _

Sirius had mere moment to decide what to do. He couldn't move out of the way, or the curse would hit Harry. Quickly he turned so his back faced Wormtail and he was face to face with Harry. He felt the curse hit his back as he suppressed a cry of pain. His eyes locked with Harry's and he knew that no matter what happened, his godson had to survive.

"Run Harry," he whispered.

Harry continued to stare at Sirius. Sirius knew Harry didn't know what just happened and that he expected Harry to follow him shortly, but that wasn't going to happen. He gave Sirius a brief hug before turning and running into the night every now and then looking over his shoulder.

"Where do you think your going Potter?" Pettigrew screamed. He started to give chase and passed Sirius who was still on his knees.

"Pettigrew!" Sirius screamed.

Peter stopped abruptly and turned to face Sirius.

"There was one thing that you never quite grasped in Auror training."

"And what, may I ask is that?" Pettigrew asked with a smug grin.

"Never turn your back on your enemies. _Reducto!" _In one swift movement, Sirius had his wand out once again and pointed it at the center of Wormtail's chest.

When the curse hit him, Peter was sent flying backwards and came crashing down on the top of the spiked fence surrounding the Potter home. Sirius gave one look at the impaled body before dropping to the ground.

"See you in hell."

A/N : There you go. Just so you know updates are gonna be slower because I'm gonna split writing between my two stories. Remember I'm still young in the world of literature so my fingers are a little slow. Hate it? Love it? Despise it? Got suggestions? Because honestly I don't know where I'm going with either of my stories.


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